CARRERA DE TRADUCTOR PÚBLICO

ENTRANCE EXAMINATION - SEPTIEMBRE 2015

NOMBRE y APELLIDO:
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Nº de ORDEN:……..…………………………………………………………………………………..

1. Reading comprehension: 30 points - Passing mark: 15 points.

IN WHAT WAYS might the language we speak influence our experience of the world?
Recently, it has been demonstrated in a series of ingenious experiments that we even
perceive colours through the lens of our mother tongue. There are radical variations in
the way languages carve up the spectrum of visible light; for example, green and blue
are distinct colours in English but are considered shades of the same colour in many
languages. And it turns out that the colours that our language routinely obliges us to
treat as distinct can refine our purely visual sensitivity to certain colour differences in
reality, so that our brains are trained to exaggerate the distance between shades of
colour if these have different names in our language. As strange as it may sound, our
experience of a Chagall painting actually depends to some extent on whether our
language has a word for blue.
In coming years, researchers may also be able to shed light on the impact of language
on more subtle areas of perception. For instance, some languages, like Matses in Peru,
oblige their speakers, like the finickiest of lawyers, to specify exactly how they came to
know about the facts they are reporting. You cannot simply say, as in English, “An
animal passed here.” You have to specify, using a different verbal form, whether this
was directly experienced (you saw the animal passing), inferred (you saw footprints),
conjectured (animals generally pass there that time of day), hearsay or such. If a
statement is reported with the incorrect “evidentiality,” it is considered a lie. So if, for
instance, you ask a Matses man how many wives he has, unless he can actually see his
wives at that very moment, he would have to answer in the past tense and would say
something like “There were two last time I checked.” After all, given that the wives are
not present, he cannot be absolutely certain that one of them hasn’t died or run off with
another man since he last saw them, even if this was only five minutes ago. So he
cannot report it as a certain fact in the present tense. Does the need to think constantly
about epistemology in such a careful and sophisticated manner inform the speakers’
outlook on life or their sense of truth and causation? When our experimental tools are
less blunt, such questions will be amenable to empirical study.
For many years, our mother tongue was claimed to be a “prison house” that constrained
our capacity to reason. Once it turned out that there was no evidence for such claims,
this was taken as proof that people of all cultures think in fundamentally the same way.
But surely it is a mistake to overestimate the importance of abstract reasoning in our
lives. After all, how many daily decisions do we make on the basis of deductive logic

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compared with those guided by gut feeling, intuition, emotions, impulse or practical
skills? The habits of mind that our culture has instilled in us from infancy shape our
orientation to the world and our emotional responses to the objects we encounter, and
their consequences probably go far beyond what has been experimentally demonstrated
so far; they may also have a marked impact on our beliefs, values and ideologies. We
may not know as yet how to measure these consequences directly or how to assess their
contribution to cultural or political misunderstandings. But as a first step toward
understanding one another, we can do better than pretending we all think the same.

PART I (Minimum Passing Mark: 15 points)

PAPER 1

2. READING COMPREHENSION (30 points)

Answers a, c and e: 5 points each. Answers b, d, f, g and h: 3 points each

a) According to the text, which of these inferences is more precise?

1- The perception of colour is not related to language.

2- We can only perceive a certain colour if we are able to name it.
3- Different cultures, regardless the language they speak, have the same perception
of colour.
4- The language you speak allows you to perceive certain shades of colour as
different.

b) There is a striking parallelism in the way in which different languages divide

colours. True
False
Don´t know

c) According to the text, which of these inferences is more precise?

1- The possibility of having a word for a certain colour does not have an
influence on perception.
2- The possibility of having a word for a certain colour can have an influence in
one`s appreciation of painting.
3- Painters who speak different languages might be better artists.
4- You can have a better experience with Chagall´s paintings if you share his
language.

d) The Inuits have 17 different names for white. This implies that their spectrum of
visible light is enhanced by the language they speak. True
False
Don´t know

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 e) According to the text, which of these inferences is more precise?
1- In Matses, different verbal forms need to be used if you do not want to be taken
for a liar.
2- You need to show a physical evidence of facts every time you produce a
sentence.
3- In Matses, if the evidence of a certain fact is present, you needn´t be very
specific about your assertions.
4- Hearsay is enough evidence to prove the validity of a statement in Matses.

f) In Matse the assertion “I have a child” is accepted as a truism when it is

pronounced by a lawyer. True
False
Don´t know

g) There is not enough evidence to conclude that our way of reasoning things out is
limited by the language we speak. True
False
Don´t know

h) Most of our decisions are based upon gut feelings.

True
False
Don´t know

USE OF ENGLISH: PARAPHRASING (20 Points)

(Minimum Passing Mark: 10 points)
Use the words given in bold and rewrite these sentences beginning as shown.
DO NOT change the meaning.
Each correct sentence is awarded 2 points.

1- “I´ll get in touch with you as soon as I arrive at the airport, Paul.” Emma said.
Emma promised…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2- Although nobody can assure this, it is assumed that the former minister has
acquired an exorbitant amount of money in the black market. (despite)
The prime minister is supposed…………………………………………………………………

DTL123 Student’s Name: Nº de Orden:

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 3- If by any chance you happen to come across him, will you apologize for the
harm you have inflicted upon him? (wrongdoing)
Should…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

4- It is a shame you have not kept an eye on him, otherwise he would not have
been sacked. (redundant)
If only……………………………………………………………………………..

5- It is not every day that a sports event manages to catch people´s attention in
such a way. (caught)
Seldom………………………………………………………………………………………

6- Tom: “Peter, why don´t you give up smoking.” (Refrain)

Tom suggested………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

7- As poor Edward had failed his exam, he was not in the mood for hanging out
with his friends. (feel up to)
Owing to……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

8- If you cannot gain weight soon, you won´t be operated on until after the
holidays. (delayed)
You had better………………………………………………………………………………………….

9- If it were at all possible, try not to give in to public pressure. (rather/sooner

you)
Given…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

10- Even If he earned a lot of money, his opinion will remain unchanged. (mind)
No matter……………………………………………………………

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PART II (Minimum Passing Mark 25)

NARRATIVE WRITING (300 words) (50 points)

(Minimum Passing Mark: 25 points)

Write a narrative composition based on the title:

“An event that marked a turning point in your life”
Make references to the moment in which the event took place, the result of this
incident in the present and relate it to how this experience might have an impact
on your future life.
Make sure you use: a wide range of advanced vocabulary, complex structures
and patterns (passive voice, conditionals, inversion of order), an adequate
register PLUS meaningful and well-supported ideas.

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